Dr. Peter Wagner
University of California, San Diego
“The Long Debate About VO2 Max - Does the Limit Come from the Heart or the Periphery?"

Dr. Wagner is Emeritus Professor of Medicine & Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla, CA. After obtaining his M.B., B.S. and B.Sc. (Medicine) degrees from Sydney University in 1968, he did postdoctoral work with Professor John West at UCSD in La Jolla, CA, USA. 

After his post-doctoral work, Dr. Wagner then joined the UCSD medical faculty and has remained there to the present time. His research addresses the theoretical and experimental basis of oxygen transport and its limitations in the lungs and skeletal muscles in health and disease. 

A particular focus is muscle capillary growth regulation using molecular biological approaches in integrated systemsto investigate the role of O2, microvascular hemodynamics, physical factors, nitric oxide and inflammatory mediators in transcriptional regulation of angiogenic growth factors. Of particular interest is the role of VEGF in both pulmonary and skeletal muscle structure and function. 

He has served NIH as a study section member and chair, as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Physiology, was President of the American Thoracic Society 2005-2006, and was President of the American Physiological Society in 2010. 

He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed research articles and over 130 invited chapters and other contributions. 

He is currently Editor in Chief of the Journal of Applied Physiology and is currently chair of the NIH individual Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Pathophysiology NRSA grants study section.